To ease the handling of the file-name parameters, the task edetect_stack uses a fixed structure of file names, composing it of a base name like “image” plus extensions per observation, instrument, and energy band (where applicable). The user can provide base names for each file type, which will be expanded by edetect_stack following the pre-defined file-name structure. The default file-name structure is defined as follows:
| attcalc corrected event lists | – | events0123456789E000II.fits |
| evselect images | – | iimage0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| eexpmap un-vignetted exposure maps | – | expunv0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| eexpmap vignetted exposure maps | – | expmap0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| emask detection masks | – | detmsk0123456789E000II.fits |
| local-mode eboxdetect source lists | – | loclst0123456789E000.fits |
| esplinemap background maps | – | bkgmap0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| esplinemap cheesed images (diagnostic) | – | cheese0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| map-mode eboxdetect source lists | – | boxlst0123456789E000.fits |
| emldetect model images (diagnostic) | – | srcmap0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| esensmap sensitivity maps (diagnostic) | – | snsmap0123456789E000II_01234_12345.fits |
| emosaic mosaicked images (diagnostic) | – | mosaic_EPIC_01234_12345.fits, mosaic_II.fits |
where the first 10 digits denote the observation ID, “E000” an exposure identifier, “II” the instrument, and the following numbers the lower and upper limits of the energy band in eV respectively. Via the parameter prefix, an additional identifier can be prepended to all file names.
The obvious advantage of the fixed file-name structure is the comprehensive input; its disadvantage the resultant inflexibility regarding input file names. Therefore, lists of file names can be used alternatively to the base names. edetect_stack will sort and associate these input files with different pointings and instruments according to their header keywords OBS_ID, EXP_ID, and INSTRUME. The energy bands, however, cannot be read from the file headers, and standard naming as <first part of the file name>_<PIMIN>_<PIMAX>, using five digits per PIMIN and PIMAX, is mandatory. Example: myinputfile_00500_010000.fits.
The third alternative are ASCII input files, which contain one file name per
row. The ASCII file name has to be preceded by an @ sign, as familiar to
users from the heatools / FTOOLS tasks. Example:
“eventsets=@eventlists.txt”,
...> cat eventlists.txt obs1_pn_evts.fits obs1_m1_evts.fits obs1_m2_evts.fits obs2_pn_evts.fits obs2_m2_evts.fits ...>
